How does the impact of iconic images from the Civil Rights Movement or the Vietnam War compare the consequences of leaked images from Abu Ghraib? Fred Ritchin analyzes the role of photography in visual journalism post 9/11.

"This volume takes readers through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole into the surrealistic world of photojournalism and its history, uses, effects, and possibly its future. Rather than being the definitive record of the world as it is, photojournalism is subject to all the biases, preferences, artistic visions, and political and economic forces of other aspects of culture. With hundreds of examples by photographers, editors, publishers, and subjects, Ritchin (NYU) presents the conflicting and sometimes redeeming aspects of the published photograph. His examples, from before the digital age through present-day social networks, tell an intriguing, though sometimes unsettling, story of using photographs to inform, influence, and manipulate those who use or view them. War, disaster, and political photography receive special analysis as the author asks whether peace can really be documented. Increasingly, citizen journalists, rather than professional observers, are recording the human condition, and the number of published photographs increases exponentially. As photojournalism changes, citizens often are the subjects as well as the photographers/videographers in an ever-changing, unpredictable environment. Ritchin remains optimistic that whatever photojournalism becomes, it will remain a force for good. -- L. L. Scarth, Choice library review

Bending the Frame: Photojournalism, Documentary, and the Citizen

Published by ApertureBy Fred Ritchin.

In Bending the Frame, Fred Ritchin--Professor of Photography & Imaging at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and author of After Photography--examines the complex relations between social justice and photojournalism in today’s oversaturated political and media climates. Is visual journalism even effective at all, given the ease with which so many of us can simply record events? And how can the impact of iconic images from the Civil Rights Movement or the Vietnam War be compared to, say, the consequences of leaked images from Abu Ghraib? Do changes in strategy imply changes in accountability and responsibility for visual journalism as a whole? Ritchin intends his discussion--which ranges across new media but also includes uses of video as well as a wide range of books and exhibitions--to provide critical tools with which to approach the various efforts of today’s visual (and “citizen”) journalists and documentary photographers. He also examines the historical uses of photography and related media to inspire social change, the better to pose the critical question that lies at the heart of his book: How can images promote new thinking and make a difference in the world?

PRAISE AND REVIEWS

American Photo

Jack Crager

Does photojournalism matter? By Richin's account, its role has shifted but not shrunk in our media - saturated world.

Choice

L.L. Scarth

This volume takes readers through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole into the surrealistic world of photojournalism and its history, uses, effects, and possibly its future.

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NEW RELEASE! We recommend Agnes Martin, the definitive monograph, published to accompany the traveling retrospective currently on view at Tate Modern.

Bending the Frame: Photojournalism, Documentary, and the CitizenBy Fred Ritchin.

In Bending the Frame, Fred Ritchin--Professor of Photography & Imaging at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and author of After Photography--examines the complex relations between social justice and photojournalism in today’s oversaturated political and media climates. Is visual journalism even effective at all, given the ease with which so many of us can simply record events? And how can the impact of iconic images from the Civil Rights Movement or the Vietnam War be compared to, say, the consequences of leaked images from Abu Ghraib? Do changes in strategy imply changes in accountability and responsibility for visual journalism as a whole? Ritchin intends his discussion--which ranges across new media but also includes uses of video as well as a wide range of books and exhibitions--to provide critical tools with which to approach the various efforts of today’s visual (and “citizen”) journalists and documentary photographers. He also examines the historical uses of photography and related media to inspire social change, the better to pose the critical question that lies at the heart of his book: How can images promote new thinking and make a difference in the world?